PSY 1012 – General Psychology
3 Credit Hours
INSTRUCTOR: Don Pearson
Contact Phone Number: 727-341-3789
Campus Email: Please contact me through MyCourses (directions below) or via email outside of the course at .
How to email within MyCourses:
· Click on Course Content (at the top of this page)
· Click "Email Instructor"
· Click "Email Instructor"
· Click "Email Don Pearson"
· Type your message
· Click "Send"
Email:
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
Dean of Social Sciences: Dr. Joseph Smiley
Department Chair Name: Dr. Douglas Rivero
Office Location: Online
Department Chair Office Number: (727) 394-6948
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to the field of psychology. It includes the history, scientific methodology, major theoretical schools of thought, various approaches to interpersonal functioning, and human development. The effects of ethnicity, age, race, and gender are integrated into the study of the discipline. This course partially satisfies the SBE 6A-10.30 writing requirements outlined in the General Education Requirements. Three hours weekly.
Link for Course Description: http://www.spcollege.edu/popcourse/psy-1012
COURSE GOAL
The primary goal of this course is student success in developing an understanding of the science of psychology and its applications.
Additional Course Goals
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of the historical roots of the science of psychology.
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of research methods used in psychology.
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of the major theories of psychology.
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of self as both a biological and social organism.
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of universal stages of development and of individual differences.
· The student will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of ethnicity, age, and/or gender, and/or race on psychological functioning.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course, the student will demonstrate each of the course goals in the following performance terms:
1. Identifying major theorists and schools of thought from the late 1800’s to the present and recognizing the contributions of major historical figures in psychology.
2. Distinguishing among the descriptive (case study, naturalistic observation, survey), correlational, and experimental approaches to behavioral research.
3. Understanding the psychoanalytic, personality, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, and Gestalt approaches, including the contributions and research associated with each theory.
4. Recognizing how biology and environment impact behavior in areas such as sensation, perception, states of consciousness, emotion, language, intelligence, motivation, memory, and learning. Recognizing the various approaches to interpersonal functioning and identifying the criteria for classifying abnormal behavior. Examining the medical and psychological models of therapy.
5. Identifying stages of development as delineated by relevant theoretical approaches, including findings in the domains of physical, cognitive and social functioning. Recognizing issues of intelligence and personality that pertain to individual differences.
6. Recognizing individual and group differences in behavior and cognitive processing. Identifying major issues emerging from research in areas such as intelligence, development, memory, states of consciousness, motivation, emotion, stress and health, personality, and abnormal behavior.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Hockenbury D. H., & Hockenbury, S. E. (2016). Discovering psychology (7th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. (Paperback) (ISBN: 9781464171055)
PREREQUISITES
Prerequisites for this course: ENC 0020 and REA 0002 or EAP 1695, or an appropriate score on the SPC placement test.
The instructor will assist or refer students, as needed, to develop the following skill set:
· Proficiencies in MyCourses (Please consult the “MyCourses Tutorials” module via the Course Content Tab.)
· Proficiencies in SPC’s Library Online, located at: http://www.spcollege.edu/central/libonline/.
*Please Note:* For Library Online, your username is your student ID number. Your password is the last four digits of your Social Security Number or 9999 for international students.
· Launching and closing various applications (i.e., Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer or Firefox)
· Downloading and saving files to folders created on the hard drive or disk
· Sending, receiving, and opening attachments
· Using the Internet to locate and save information
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
· Regular access to a computer that is connected to the Internet
· In order to complete course projects, Microsoft Office 97 or higher is required. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, please visit one of the college’s learning labs or another location where Microsoft Word is installed. Please do not send files in other formats.
· You will need Flash Player to view the videos. If you cannot view the videos, please go to http://get.adobe.com/shockwave to download the latest version.
· If you have a “pop-up blocker” of any sort on your computer, please disable it to view quizzes and tutorials.
· Students will need Quick Time to view certain videos within tutorials, which can be downloaded for free at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download.
ATTENDANCE
Instructor will verify that students are in attendance once each week throughout the semester. Students classified as “No Show” for both of the first two weeks will be administratively withdrawn. Immediately following the 60% point of the term, the instructor will verify which students are actively participating. Active participation is defined as completing the weekly attendance activity that is assigned each week. The attendance activity may be an online discussion, written assignment, quiz, or exam. If you do not complete the attendance activity by the weekly due date, you will be counted as absent. Two or more consecutive absences may result in inactive participation. Students classified with inactive participation may be administratively withdrawn with a “WF.” If illness or other emergencies prevent your active participation, please notify the instructor immediately to determine an academic plan. Students will be able to withdraw themselves at any time during the term. However, requests submitted after the 60% deadline will result in a “WF.” Students and the instructor will automatically receive an e-mail notification to SPC email whenever a withdrawal occurs.
DROPPING THE COURSE
Withdrawing after the 60% deadline in a course can have serious consequences. If you withdraw from a course after the deadline posted in the academic calendar, you will receive a final grade of “WF,” which has the same impact on your GPA as a final grade of “F.” A grade of “WF” may impact your financial aid and cause you to have to repay some of your assistance. If you are thinking about withdrawing from a course, please consult your academic advisor and/or your financial aid counselor first to be sure you understand all the possible outcomes of your decision. Any student that has decided to withdrawal needs to do so in the MySPC registration area found at http://www.spcollege.edu, as well as contact the instructor. If this is your third time taking the course, you cannot withdraw from the course without receiving a grade of “WF.”
Note: Last day to drop WITH A REFUND is 1/13/17
EXPECTATIONS
Regular online class participation is required and essential for the successful completion of this course. If you are not going to be able to log in to the course for a week or more, please notify the instructor. Submission of all assignments is expected and required on the due date.
Students will need to spend the amount of time equal to a regular face-to-face class plus study timeoutside of class. It is reasonable to spend 5-6 hours per week for successful completion of this course.
Instructor will grade assignments within a week from the date it is due. Instructor will respond to email within 24 hours, 5 days a week.
COLLEGE POLICIES and SYLLABUS ADDENDUM
Please consult the following link for college policies: http://www.spcollege.edu/addendum/.
In addition, please carefully review the Academic Honesty policy: http://www.spcollege.edu/webcentral/catalog/current/stu_affairs_honesty.htm.
GRADING
Your grade is based on 1000 points from the following *six* categories:
1. Written Assignments (Worth 300 possible points)
2. Content Discussions (Worth 300 possible points)
3. Quizzes (Worth 140 possible points)
4. Exams (Worth 200 possible points)
5. “Read and Review” Exercises (Worth 60 possible points)
Written Assignments (Worth 300 possible points)
The purpose of written assignments is to apply your understanding of the course content.
*Each written assignment is worth 50 possible points.*
1. Experiments (Chapter 1)
2. Operant Conditioning (Chapter 5)
3. Personality Test (Chapter 10)
4. Implicit Associations (Chapter 11)
5. Case Study (Chapter 13)
6. Psychotherapies Video (Chapter 14)
All Assignments are subject to change.
Content Discussions (Worth 300 possible points)
The purpose of content discussions is to facilitate content-based communication between classmates.
*Each content discussion is worth 25 possible points.*
*All Content Discussion scores count.*
Quizzes (Worth 140 possible points.)
Students will complete a 10-question quiz per chapter (totaling 14 quizzes). The quizzes are open-book, open-note, and must be completed independently. Students will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz. Please does not start the quiz until you can complete it; students *cannot* save a quiz to complete later. Students will have 2 attempts to successfully complete each quiz (highest score counts).
*Each quiz is worth 10 possible points.*
Exams (Worth 200 possible points.)
The Midterm and Final Exams each consist of 100 multiple choice questions and each question is worth one point. The Midterm Exam covers Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The Final Exam covers Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
Exams are open-book, open-note, and must be completed independently. Students will have 3 hours and one attempt to complete each exam. Please does not start the exam until you can complete it; students *cannot* save an exam to complete later.
*Each exam is worth 100 possible points.*
Pre-selected Read and Review Exercises (Worth 60 possible points)
Prior to the beginning of the semester, the instructor has selected exercises under “Read and Review.” If the student completes these pre-selected exercises, they will receive
10 completion points each.
Extra Credit: is at the discretion of the instructor and will made available to the entire class and not on an individual basis
GRADING SCALE
The student’s final grade in this course is determined on the basis of his/her accumulated points:
A = 900 – 1000 points (90 – 100%)
B = 800 – 899 points (80 – 89.9%)
C = 700 – 799 points (70 – 79.9%)
D = 600 – 699 points (60 – 69.9%)
F = 0 – 599 points (0 – 59.9%)
COURSE OUTLINE
Students should follow the Course Calendar (Calendar Tab) for deadlines. The due dates for each required component are listed there. All assignments (including written assignments, content discussions, quizzes, “Read and Review” exercises, and extra credit (if available) are due at 11:55 PM on the due date.
A student who does not submit an assignment by 11:55 PM on the due date will receive a 0 for any unsubmitted assignment. No work will be accepted after its deadline.
All assignments are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion. Please pay particular attention to our Homepage (Notices Tab) and your email (Communication Tab).
6